French driver Esteban Ocon will race for Force India in the 2017 Formula 1 season after agreeing a ‘multi-year deal’ with the team. A vacancy was created at the Vijay Mallya-backed team with Nico Hulkenberg making a switch to Renault.
The 20-year-old, a junior Mercedes driver, made his Formula One racing debut with Manor mid-way through 2016, is fairly new to the world of F1 but not to racing. A former European F3 and GP3 champion, Ocon drove Force India’s VJM08 in the Barcelona pre-season test and the Red Bull Ring mid-season test in 2015.
“Spending half a season at Manor Racing has given me some valuable experience and I feel ready for this,” said Ocon. “It’s something I’ve been working towards my whole life and I intend to grab this opportunity with both hands. I want to say thank you to everybody at Manor and especially to Mercedes-Benz for their support and belief in me. I can’t wait for 2017 and my first full season racing in Formula One.”
Force India Team Principal Vijay Mallya said, “It’s a pleasure to welcome Esteban as our new race driver. He’s an exceptional talent, as his status as a Mercedes Junior demonstrates, and I have no doubt he will flourish inside our team.”
“We have had our eye on Esteban for a number of years and have followed his progress through the junior categories where he delivered outstanding results,” said Mallya.
“We ran him in the car last year during testing and his performance convinced us that he is more than capable of racing alongside Sergio,” he added.
Ocon’s switch from Manor to Force India leaves just five seats open for 2017: two at Manor, two at Sauber, and one at Haas – which Kevin Magnussen is widely expected to fill.
